01:00 AM EST on Monday, December 26, 2005

Thank you.

Thanks for all the comments, questions, criticisms and ideas that you offered during the last 12 weeks of our series, Bracing for Winter.

In all, about 280 of our readers called or sent e-mail about our effort to help people prepare for record home heating costs this winter.

Many were complimentary.

"That was a great job you did explaining insulation," wrote Robert Balliot, in an e-mail. "It was clearly presented and helpful."

We began planning the series last August, when regional economists forecast that the cost of home heating oil, natural gas and electricity would spike 30 percent this year, straining family budgets.

That estimate has come true. Ask anybody who has paid a utility bill in the last few weeks.

The goal of our series was to help homeowners and renters shave those monthly bills.

During the last 12 weeks, our reporters researched and wrote about free audits to assess where your home is wasting energy and which refrigerators and dryers cost the least to run.

They wrote about turning down the thermostat, insulating walls, windows doors and ceilings, changing light bulbs, switching off computers and the TV to save electricity, installing wood-burning stoves and finding tax credits to pay for the improvements.

Besides what our reporters found out, readers also chipped in -- when we asked them to share their tips and ideas with their neighbors.

The calls and e-mail came in from across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. The numbers overwhelmed us. We tried to return as many calls and reply to as much e-mail as we could. If we missed any, I apologize.

We even got e-mail from Rhode Islanders who have moved to other parts of the country and read our stories on projo.com, the Providence Journal's online service that also put up multimedia slide shows to go with our stories.

And if you want to catch up with the stories you missed, review the one you can't quite remember or see the multimedia shows, you can go to projo.com/bracingforwinter.

To read the stories the old-fashioned way in a newspaper, most public libraries still have copies of the Monday editions.

Some of readers who offered advice made us smile.

My favorite was Ana Farias, of Providence, who suggested that the best way to keep warm was to invite a pet to bed. "I don't know why a cat works a lot better than a dog," she said. She even allowed us to take her picture snuggled up in bed with her cat, Leah.

Jean McKenna, of Cranston, thanked us for the article about how to stop wasting energy.

"Thank you for telling me to turn off the TV," she wrote, "I like to have them on all over the house so when I wander around I don't lose continuity, but you turned me off of that."

Tom Chartier wrote: "Thanks for the excellent article about the rate hike New England Gas received. I certainly wish that I could increase my pension 17 percent when I wanted to."

There were many ideas:

John A. MacLennan, of Narragansett, said that when he traveled to Spain, he learned how to use a large rack, called a "tendederos," to dry his clothes in his hotel room. He brought one home.

"We use our electric dryer maybe once per week for four loads of wash." he wrote, "And the moisture that evaporates from the clothes [on the rack] helps to keep the humidity inside the house at a higher level."

Some readers challenged the cost savings we calculated to tell our stories.

Jim Leslie suggested that while regular light bulbs are only 5 percent to 10 percent efficient in producing light, the energy that produces heat is not lost and helps warm the house.

He said he has a 25-watt bulb burning in his unheated garage all winter to prevent overhead water pipes from freezing. It works.

"So there is a tradeoff on your $70 savings; while you may save on your electric bill, you may have to spend more for heating," he wrote.

Some people were frustrated.

"The truth is . . . it doesn't matter how much you try to save and cut down on energy use [because] the utilities are forever raising their rates anyhow and you will never get ahead," said Tom Paone, of Cranston.

Others, worried about the ever-escalating costs of energy produced from fossil fuels, wanted more information on alternative sources.

For example, Mary Flynn said she planned to renovate her house and wondered whether the timing was right to convert to solar.

The number of responses from people who read our series online surprised me. Some in our Web audience wanted to keep a running conversation with Timothy C. Barmann, our energy writer, who also wrote an online energy blog. There was an interest in creating a network on related topics.

For example, Kara DiCamillo, of Newport, suggested that Tim link to her blog: www.treehugger.com

Others just wanted basic information, such as the phone numbers to get on the list to get a free energy audit

Here are the numbers again:

(888) 633-7947 for the EnergyWise program, administered by Narragansett Electric;

(401) 222-3370 for the Rhode Island Weatherization Assistance Program, administered by the State Energy Office.

Others asked whether there was information available to find out what home heating oil is selling for around the state.

There is a Web site put up by the State Energy Office that surveys home heating dealers in Rhode Island. It's www.riseo.state.ri.us

Mostly, people were complimentary, thanking our writers for explaining complicated energy issues or offering a tip that might save them a few bucks on their bills.

I think Bracing for Winter showed a couple of things.

First, when our reporters provide clear, accurate, helpful information, we are doing our jobs.

Second, we are on your side.

And that relationship works best when you read the stories, comment and offer helpful advice or subjects to look into.

Thanks, again.

Have a Happy New Year. And please keep reading.